Gate-Tunable Ambipolar Josephson Current in a Topological Insulator

Abstract

Dirac surface states in a topological insulator (TI) with proximity-induced superconductivity offer a promising platform for realizing topological superconductivity and Majorana physics. However, in TIs, the Josephson effect is usually observed in regimes where transport is dominated by either substantial bulk conduction channels or unipolar surface states. In this work, we demonstrate gate-tunable ambipolar Josephson current in lateral Josephson junction (JJ) devices based on bulk-insulating (Bi,Sb)2Te3 thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). For thinner films, the supercurrent exhibits pronounced gate-tunable ambipolar behavior and is significantly suppressed as the chemical potential approaches the Dirac point, yet persists across it. In contrast, thicker films exhibit a much weaker ambipolar response. Moreover, we find that the supercurrent becomes significantly less resilient to external magnetic fields when the chemical potential is tuned near the Dirac point in both thickness regimes. Our numerical simulations demonstrate the ambipolar behavior of these TI JJ devices and attribute the asymmetric supercurrent observed in thicker TI films to the coexistence of Dirac surface states and bulk conduction channels. The demonstration of gate-tunable ambipolar Josephson transport in MBE-grown TI films paves the way for realizing Dirac-surface-state-mediated topological superconductivity and establishes a foundation for future exploration of electrically tunable Majorana modes.

26 pages, 4 figures, comments are welcome

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